Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
Earthquake near Esperanza, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 10:39 am AST (14:39 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026 (16:08 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 22 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
93 km (58 mi) SE of San Juan, PR
- When
- 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Vieques Municipio, 23 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 13 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Esperanza, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Esperanza, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 29 km (18 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Esperanza 23 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 780 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 620 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 17.9377, -65.3332. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 23 km (15 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 43 km (27 mi) | N | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 46 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
| Naguabo Municipio, PR | 52 km (32 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio |
| Humacao Municipio, PR | 53 km (33 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Humacao Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 57 km (35 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.